Before I got my cats people always told me loads of scary things, what are the biggest lies or myths you have been told about cats but have turned out to be completely untrue?
I was told that cats will destroy your furniture and scratch everything in the house, totally untrue!
I was also told that because my cats are so fluffy the cat hair would become an issue, this also is not true.
Good question! And glad you are not finding either the scratching or the cat hair to be a problem. I think a lot of that has to do with people's different standards and also with how comfortable the cat is. In a household where the cat is at ease there is going to be less destructive behavior!
One myth I would love to see completely discredited is the one about cats always landing on their feet. Cats can indeed be hurt by falling from a height and people who believe this particular myth often don't protect their cats from situations where they might fall and do serious damage to themselves.
As a matter of fact most of the myths I've heard about cats tend to put the cats in danger of some kind if people believe them, sad to say.
I agree! My cat always lands on her face! I think she is a little bit "special" but she does not have the balance cats are supposed to have.
People also told me you cant train a cat to respond to its name, or to come when you call it, or to not do certain things, but I have trained my guys, they come when they are called, they wont jump up on the counter tops, etc because they know they are not allowed!
People say that cats are not like dogs and they have no real affection for their owners. Not true. I can give a little whistle and my cat will come running. When I return home he always seems pleased to see me, and I can't sit down without him wanting to jump up on my lap and be stroked.
I used to have a cat and a dog, and when I took the dog for its evening walk, the cat would want to come too, but he would get scared and return home before I reached the end of the road.
That's another myth: that cats and dogs don't get on. The cat would lie next to the dog in front of the fire, and the dog would tolerate it.
I think one of the myths people often hear about cats is that for no reason they will just scratch you unprovoked and that they are very fierce. I have a one year old daughter and if there is a person who can provoke a pet that's my Chloe. My daughter loves being around cats and she's never been scratched even though she hugs them an awful lot. In fact they try to steer clear of her most of the time.
My cats learned not to scratch, I think what gives them the bad reputation is that when a cat panics it tries to reach out with it's claws, and if it happens to be on you...you get clawed!
The myth that first came to mind was that I've heard people say that cats need to have fresh air and run around outside to be healthy. Personally I've never agreed with those thoughts and when I finally remembered to ask the vet about it, she didn't agree with it either. Her thought, and mine, was that it's people who need fresh air. :-)
There *is* the exercise issue and that would be a lot easier outside, but between predators, cars, and fleas all over the yard from the rabbits and squirrels out there, I'd never choose that option.
I've heard a lot of them, and almost exclusively from people who hate cats or animals in general, and have a problem with anyone having one. There's a lot of classics; how cats scratch and destroy everything, how they leave their hair everywhere, they never get attached to humans they get attached to places, they have to live outside otherwise they're 'unhappy', etc.
I've heard some strange ones too. Some people say that if you swallow a few cat hairs, you die. I've heard once that if you swallow a cat hair it can pierce through your kidney. Another really strange thing I've heard is that you shouldn't let a cat near a baby, because the soft spot on their heads smells nice to cats and they will eat it (?!?).
I'm not really sure if people really believe these things, or if they just make them up to scare potential cat owners. Both ideas are a bit disturbing for me.
I've enjoyed reading through this thread. I have heard some of these myths and others were brand new to me. I've thought of another one that my family has personally proven time and time again is false... well, at least for our cat. I realize all are different.
I've often heard that no cat is ever a good traveler and it's just not true in our case. Our cat has traveled on our road trips with us for nearly 10 years now. There's at least one trip every year that is around 1,000 miles each way. We have a huge carrier for her with cushioning, so the ride is comfortable. When we're ready to go, she just looks around for a while and then settles in to get comfortable. Never makes a sound and the "hum of the road" seems to comfort her.
I agree with the furniture scratching issue... we never had a problem with that either, although I'd been warned about it. We just keep a few cardboard "scratchies" around the house and the cat loves them and it satisfies her when it comes to needing to scratch.
That cats purr when they're happy and love you. In reality, they hold contempt for everything.
I kid, I kid. But they seriously don't just purr when happy. They also purr when they're afraid, to sort of show that they're no danger. Some also don't purr very loud-you can only hear when mine's purring when you hold your head to her chest. I thought this was the case for all cats, 'til I went to a friends house and discovered her three cats where very loud purr-ers.
